


My Dragon Thinks I'm in Love

by plutosrose



Series: Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020 [10]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alpine is a Dragon, Alternate Universe - Dragon Riders, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Blacksmith! Steve, Dragons, Evil King, King Alexander Pierce, M/M, Non-Serum Steve Rogers/Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes | Shrinkyclinks, References to Arranged Marriage, forced conscription, so much soot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:20:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27141670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plutosrose/pseuds/plutosrose
Summary: “Once a dragon is bonded to a human, they can understand our thoughts and feelings probably even better than we can,” Sam explained, only pausing to give Falcon a few scratches under the chin as she curled up in his lap. “For example, if you’re scared, they fight for you.”“Okay, so what does it mean if they just repeatedly headbutt someone?”-Bucky is a dragon rider, forced to serve in King Alexander's army. Stationed in a new village, he meets the blacksmith's apprentice, Steve.There's more to the village and there's more to Steve.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Alpine, James "Bucky" Barnes & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020 [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1882291
Comments: 14
Kudos: 206
Collections: Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020





	My Dragon Thinks I'm in Love

King Alexander was a benevolent king who was much beloved by all, and never, ever tried to extort peasants into paying more taxes than they could afford.

Just kidding.

King Alexander had once had a reputation as a perfectly respectable and charming man, but it had hit a few snags after the mysterious deaths of his brother (who was already seen as fairly nasty himself for overthrowing the Odinson family), the queen, and their son. 

King Alexander was also a dragon rider, with a fearsome bright green dragon named Hydra. Hydra was twice the size of most dragons, and twice as mean. There were a few that dared to speak the rumor that Hydra had eaten the old king, only to end up in the new king’s dungeons, never to be seen nor heard from ever again. 

So no, he was not a nice man.

-

Bucky’s favorite thing about his family’s house was that it was next to a great big forest. It was the perfect place to try and find dragons. 

His mother had warned him against wandering off, because some of the dragons that lived in the wild were very big and very mean.

But the dragon that was curled up beside a hollowed-out log was anything but very big and very mean. As he crept closer, she--he could tell that it was a female dragon by her forked tail--squeaked and opened her eyes to peer curiously at him.

“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you,” he murmured and held his hands out. 

There were all kinds of theories about how dragons and humans bonded, but Bucky knew, even then, that if this dragon did not sense a bond with him, it would turn around and leave. 

Instead, the little dragon squeaked, opened its mouth, and let out a few snowflakes as it toddled over to him. 

-

Later that night, as the tiny dragon--Alpine--as he had already begun to think of her, curled up on his pillow, he could hear his parents arguing in the next room. 

“They’ll take him away,” his mom hissed out in a hushed tone. “Once he’s old enough, they will take him away, and we’ll never be able to see him again.”

Bucky watched as Alpine exhaled and tiny snowflakes fell onto his sheets. “Nothing like that is going to happen, Winifred,” George said. 

-

Bucky knew that something was wrong that morning, because Rumlow looked far too happy as he shoved crumpled up papers into his hands. 

Rumlow was a member of the king’s guard, and had no reason to personally hand deliver him any information - so Bucky had a feeling that whatever it was was meant to make him miserable. 

“New orders.” 

He glared at him as he smoothed out the papers. Orders to fly out to a village in the mountains for the next six months. It was a low-priority job, Bucky thought, as he furrowed his brow, but it would last into the following year. 

“I’m supposed to be in the Capitol until the end of the year, nothing more,” Bucky protested. He was nearing the end of ten years in the king’s army, the point at which dragon riders were supposedly allowed to see their families again (not that this had turned out to be true for any of them). 

“These are direct orders from the king, _Bringer of Winter_ ,” Rumlow sneered, giving Bucky a challenging glance with the use of the ridiculous nickname that had stuck after he’d ridden Alpine into battle for the first time. “Would you dare disobey His Majesty?” 

Alpine hissed at Rumlow, and Bucky jerked once on her reins to try and get her to shut up. Alpine might have been a rare ice dragon (and by extension, valuable to the king’s army), but the rumors of riders losing their dragons to Rumlow’s dragon Crossbones weren’t exactly _just_ rumors. 

“No, I am not disobeying His Majesty,” Bucky said begrudgingly, yanking the reins again when Alpine snorted. She was definitely annoyed. She’d never liked Rumlow, and probably would have eaten him if given the chance. 

Rumlow grinned at him, too wide and too toothy. The stories about dragons being able to take human forms were just that--stories--but there was a small part of Bucky that thought that when it came to Rumlow, it might have been true. 

“Good,” Rumlow said, with a sense of self-satisfaction that made Bucky grit his teeth. “It’s a six month posting, and it shouldn’t be too hard. Just keep an eye on things and collect the taxes. You know, come to think of it, it’s funny that you will not be in the Capitol next month when Lady Rebecca reaches marrying age.”

Bucky felt anger rise inside of him. “Lady Rebecca,” he bit out, “is not going to be marrying you.” 

His younger sister was very pretty and despite his family’s middling status, was highly sought after. In the last letter that he’d received from his family, he’d received word that she was betrothed to John Proctor, a count with an estate in the west. 

“You’re aware that it is within the king’s power to void a betrothal, correct?” Rumlow grinned at him, making anger prickle at the back of his neck. 

Alpine hissed again, and Bucky took a step forward, before King Alexander, in all of his glory, had swept between the two of them. Both Bucky and Rumlow bowed immediately. Alpine, for her part, just turned her head and let out a puff of snow. 

“James, Rumlow,” the king nodded at them both to rise. “I trust there isn’t a problem here.”

“No problem at all, your Majesty,” Bucky murmured, sucking in a breath. “Rumlow was just giving me my new orders, but I was under the impression that I would be in the Capitol until the end of the year and able to see my family, not that I would be required to leave for another posting.” 

The king’s genial expression was tinged with darkness. “I’m sorry James, you must be confused. You were always meant to be going to the village.” 

“I’m not--” Bucky began, before the king slapped him cleanly across the face. 

“Do not forget your place, James,” the king smiled at him. Bucky didn’t dare to reach up to touch his face, if only for Alpine’s sake. If he wasn’t going to let Crossbones sink his fangs in her, he wasn’t going to let Hydra sink his fangs in her either. 

“Yes, sir,” Bucky said grimly. The smug and self-satisfied look on Rumlow’s face felt like a kick in the teeth. He hung his head and bowed again. If the king wanted him to leave the Capitol, then he didn’t exactly have much of a choice.

-

He set off for the village of Valkyrie that morning. Valkyrie was at the bottom of a mountain and was cold almost all year-round. It was a far cry from the sunny Capitol, but at the very least, Alpine would like it, and he liked it when she was happy.

As they closed in on the village, he tried not to think of his parents or Becca, for that matter. He chided himself for thinking that he might have been able to see them after all this time--he should have known that the last thing that the king wanted was for any of his dragon riders to have a life that didn’t revolve around serving him. 

Once he had arrived at the small house where he’d be staying for the next few months and put Alpine in the enclosure, he debated whether it would be a good idea to urge Rebecca to marry as soon as possible. The king might have been able to void a betrothal, but even he wouldn’t touch a marriage. 

Then again, displeasing the king would also be a good way to bring his family unnecessary attention (not to mention that he’d have to explain that he wouldn’t be seeing them any time soon), so he shook off the thought and decided that for now, the best course of action was to get settled in the village. All writing a letter to them would do was disappoint them. 

-

Bucky was in the market in the village square that morning, Alpine by his side. He’d just exchanged a few coins for a bushel of apples when Alpine headbutted a tiny blond man that was covered head to toe in soot.

“Ow!” said the blond man, rubbing his side when Alpine headbutted him a second time. 

Most people who were not riders either had a healthy respect for how dangerous dragons could be, or they were outright afraid of them. Not blond man, however, blond man instead turned to face Alpine and smiled brightly at her.

“Hello!” he said to her, reaching out his hand for her to sniff. “Hi, my name’s Steve.” 

Alpine sniffed his hand cautiously, before practically purring in delight and rubbing her head against Steve. 

Bucky blinked at her for a moment--Alpine had never shown anyone this kind of affection. “Sorry,” he murmured as he tried to tug her back. “Alpine, no.” 

“You don’t have to be sorry,” the blond man said, reaching out to gently brush against Alpine’s face. “She seems really sweet.”

It was at that moment, however, that Alpine headbutted him so hard that he fell over, and Bucky briefly considered whether the penalties of abandoning his post would be worth it. 

-

The following day when he and Alpine crossed through the market, Bucky saw Steve again. Alpine headbutted him again.

-

She headbutted him again the day after that, too.

-

At this point, Bucky wasn’t sure that he could let Alpine out of her enclosure without her finding a way to find Steve and headbutt him again, so he did the only thing that made sense--he went to see Sam.

Most humans that bonded with dragons had been conscripted into King Alexander’s army, with one notable exception--that of Samuel Wilson. Most humans that bonded with a dragon happened to bond with one dragon in their entire life. Sam, however, had bonded with _four_. 

Sam was something of a legend to the dragon riders, especially since he’d never actually been forced to join the army. Bucky had once been assigned to watch him, with the hopes of neutralizing any threat to His Majesty. Sam, for his part, had simply opened the window of his home, looked up at the roof, and said, “Are you going to stay up there all night or are you going to come in for dinner?” 

They’d been friends since.

Fortunately, Sam now lived close by to Valkyrie, on enough land for all four of his dragons. 

Sam had brewed some tea and set about plating some biscuits as Bucky explained Alpine’s behavior. “I can’t take her to the market anymore - she keeps headbutting this blacksmith.” 

Sam gave him a look that he knew infuriated him - the one that said ‘you’re an idiot and if you listen closely, I will teach you.’ “Once a dragon is bonded to a human, they can understand our thoughts and feelings probably even better than we can,” Sam explained, only pausing to give Falcon a few scratches under the chin as she curled up in his lap. “For example, if you’re scared, they fight for you.”

“Okay, so what does it mean if they just repeatedly headbutt someone?”

“It means they think you’re in love with them.”

Sam had given the explanation so quickly and plainly that Bucky could have sworn that he’d misheard him. He blinked. “What?”

Sam gave him a disapproving look. “You seriously know absolutely nothing about dragons, do you?” 

“Alpine is one of twenty ice dragons left in the entire world,” Bucky shot back. “Of course I know about dragons.”

“Sure,” Sam scoffed. “That’s exactly why you’re here asking me for advice.” 

“How could she possibly know that I’m in love with him? I don’t even know him, and he doesn’t know me. All he knows is that my dragon can’t stop headbutting him.” Bucky sank back in the arm chair and let out a heavy sigh.

“Well,” Sam folded his hands and let out the kind of heavy sigh that he was wont to do when he heard something ridiculous, like _the king sent me here to kill you_. “Maybe you should try to get to know him first? If Alpine’s wrong, then she’s wrong.” 

“If she’s not?”

“Then she’s not.”

Bucky let out a sigh and looked up at the ceiling, which was frankly easier than looking Sam in the face when he was right about something. “It’s not that easy, Sam. I don’t have a life like you do.” 

The look that passed over Sam’s features at that moment was unrecognizable. Concern, definitely, pity, maybe, just a bit, but there was something else that he definitely couldn’t place. 

“If you want to say something, just say it,” Bucky gave him a sharp look, and Sam shrugged.

“Don’t have anything to say.” 

Bucky studied Sam’s expression for a moment, before he decided to let the matter rest. Somehow, though, he doubted that Sam was telling him everything that he knew. 

-

When Bucky woke up the next morning, he decided that he needed to put this Steve issue to bed once and for all. He’d meet him (properly, and without Alpine repeatedly headbutting him this time), probably wouldn’t like him, then he wouldn’t have to worry about the fact that the king essentially owned his life. 

Didn’t sound like a problem to him. 

As he approached the square, Bucky spotted Steve almost instantly. It was hard not to, given the fact that Steve had already spotted him and was waving him over. 

“Good morning!” he said brightly, and Bucky did his best to make sure that his eyes didn’t linger too long on anything but his face. 

“Good morning,” he said stiffly.

“Where’s Alpine?” 

It took Bucky a few seconds to realize that Steve was talking about the literal dragon that usually accompanied him everywhere he went, before he rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh, um, I left her at home, she was...sleeping.” 

Steve blinked at him.

“I’m Bucky,” he said in a sudden bid to fill the silence between them. 

Steve smiled at him, and Bucky noticed that Steve’s eyes were a brilliant cornflower blue. To say that Bucky abandoned the idea of hating him immediately was...exactly what happened. That was exactly what happened.

“You’re a blacksmith, then?” Bucky asked, gesturing at the anvil and hammer and assorted pieces of metal that were lying at Steve’s feet. 

“Apprentice, technically,” Steve said as he reached for a cloth to wipe off his hands. “Erksine lets me do most of the work at the market now.”

A woman with bright red hair that looked familiar waved at Steve. “I have those plums that you were asking about,” she called over to him, before giving Bucky a short nod. 

“Thanks Talia,” Steve called over to her, a broad smile on his face. Steve had one of those smiles that was brighter than the sun. 

“Plums?”

Steve shrugged. “My mom likes them. She hasn’t been able to get out too much lately, so I like to do something nice for her when I can.”

“I haven’t seen my family in ten years,” Bucky blurted out before he could stop himself. “I have a sister, too. Almost twenty.”

Bucky was horribly conscious of the way that Steve leaned closer to him. “I’m sorry. I don’t think it’s fair that they do that.” 

Nothing about the way King Alexander did anything was fair. There were plenty of stories of king’s guard that stole from merchants, who stole men’s wives, and killed those who disagreed with them. Not to mention that there were plenty of rumors about what happened to those dragon riders who refused to join him, but the outcome was always the same--nobody ever heard from them again.

“I still do what they tell me to do.”

“Yeah, but that’s not who you are, right?” Steve asked, tilting his head curiously. Bucky wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or not, but Steve definitely seemed to be looking at him for a long time, much longer than a typical, casual conversation. 

Bucky’s mouth went dry. He licked his lips and shrugged. 

“King wouldn’t take me for his army, whether or not I wanted to join,” Steve continued. “But Erksine, he teaches me plenty. He teaches me when he can, and I can make pretty good swords now. It’s how I know that yours is a piece of shit.” 

“Hey!” Bucky laughed, hand going immediately to where his sword was holstered. “Are you really insulting the sword that belongs to the Bringer of Winter?”

“That depends,” Steve replied, a challenging glint in his eyes. “You serious about the nickname?” 

-

Alpine is positively thrilled when he brings Steve home, and well, he might be a little bit thrilled too, growing harder as Steve presses him into his bedroom wall. 

“Fuck,” he murmured, as Steve tugged his trousers off. Steve, for his part, gives him another challenging look as he takes his cock into his mouth. 

At no point does Steve let up, either, pausing only to run his hand along his shaft, wringing moans out of him until his knees were weak and he was close to collapsing right there. 

“I want you to fuck me,” he murmured only a few seconds after he came, sagging against the wall. 

Steve snorted. “You want _me_ to fuck _you._ ”

“Yeah,” Bucky said huskily, running his hands along Steve’s sides. 

“I’m covered with soot, for starters. Don’t think I’ve had a decent bath in months, actually.”

Bucky chuckled and pressed a kiss against Steve’s nose. “Okay, so we’ll go somewhere with nice baths. Doesn’t bother me.” 

Steve snickered and found Bucky’s lips, pressing a long and lingering kiss against them. “In the meantime, I have something that you could help me with, actually.”

“Oh, do you?” Bucky smirked playfully as he let his hand cup Steve through his trousers. “Was this what you were talking about?” 

He pulled Steve’s cock out and started to stroke, finger swirling around the tip. “Yeah,” Steve grinned playfully, before letting his head flop back. “It was.”

-

They went to bed together a lot.

Just, like a lot.

After the first time that Bucky had convinced Steve that he wouldn’t get in trouble if he bathed in his quarters, things had escalated pretty quickly. It seemed like lately, there wasn’t a single day that he didn’t either wake up with Steve in his bed or go to sleep with him.

It was intensely gratifying to be bent over the side of his bed, with Steve’s hands bracketing his hips and thrusting inside him. Steve might have been small, but Bucky could tell that there was something strong and powerful about him.

And he wasn’t just thinking about his cock.

For the most part.

Steve had been sickly as a child, but Erksine had seen potential in him anyway. He cared deeply about his mother, Alpine loved him (he had legitimately never seen Alpine happier in his entire life, the way that she nuzzled him when he fed her apples made him almost wonder if she could bond to two people). He’d seen the metalwork that Steve did too, he had an artist’s eye, even if he had a fighter’s heart.

Too bad, like always, there was something just around the corner to blow the whole thing to shit.

-

“What the fuck do you want,” Bucky deadpanned when he saw Rumlow standing outside, Crossbones dangerously close to Alpine’s enclosure. 

“Now James, is that any way to treat a member of the king’s guard?” 

Bucky reluctantly stepped aside as Rumlow swept inside. “His Majesty wanted me to inform you in person that there’s been a change in your orders.”

He furrowed his brow. “What are you talking about?”

“See, we’ve gathered word from a credible source that there is a rebel group conspiring to overthrow His Majesty, and that its leader happens to live in this very village. What are the chances?”

“I don’t know anything about rebels.”

“See that’s the good part, you don’t have to know anything, we just tell you what to do,” Rumlow sneered, clasping his hands together as he smirked at him. “You probably won’t even need Alpine to do the job.” 

Rumlow seemed to delight in Bucky’s confusion. “You wouldn’t happen to have met him before, would you?”

Bucky blinked down at a drawing that was unmistakably _Steve._ Color drained out of his face.

“Oh, so you have met him.”

“No,” Bucky said quickly. “I’ve never met him before in my life. I don’t know him.”

Rumlow stepped closer to him, looking him up and down. “You _absolutely_ sure?” 

“I’m sure.”

In one swift motion, Rumlow had grabbed his throat and pinned him to the floor, taking care to put pressure on his left arm--which had never healed after the first time that he’d ridden Alpine into battle. “Because if I find out you’re lying, you know what will happen, don’t you?” 

He knew--his parents would die, Rebecca would end up married to Rumlow, and Alpine would likely be killed by Crossbones. He didn’t spare a thought for himself.

“Yes,” he gasped, and Rumlow let go, either pleased with his response or pleased with himself, like he normally was.

“Good, I’ll be in touch.”

-

Alpine was distressed the next day, having turned her entire enclosure into a blizzard. 

“I know you’re upset,” Bucky murmured. “But I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

-

He avoided Steve as much as he could.

At first, he thought that there would be a way out. But nobody had found a way out, aside from Sam, and considering the fact that he didn’t exactly have three other dragons bonded to him, there wasn’t a lot that he could do.

Rumlow hadn’t asked him to make an example of Steve, so he decided that if he had to kill him, it wouldn’t be in broad daylight, definitely not next to Steve’s friend who sold plums in the square, either. 

Bucky thought of Steve’s mother, who had been sick and confined to their small house. What would become of her?

He squeezed his eyes shut. 

There was no choice.

-

That was how he found himself on the roof of their home, where he’d tracked Steve to after he’d finished in the market for the day. He stayed low, hidden by the large, leafy trees on the perimeter. 

He tried to steady his breathing. Steve would leave before sunrise. That was when he’d catch him.

-

When Steve opened the door that morning, Bucky dropped down, dagger in hand.

Only, Steve didn’t die.

He grabbed Bucky’s arm and twisted it painfully. Sparring with Rumlow had made him accustomed to dirty tricks and a certain level of pain, but this was swift calculation. Deliberate.

Even still, Bucky was heavier and had more muscle, so he was able to pull Steve down and try to wrench his arm out of his grasp.

“What are you doing, Bucky?”

It wasn’t fear that greeted him, but cool acceptance.

“I have a mission.”

“Then do it.”

Steve released the grip that he had on his arm and gazed up at him expectantly. 

Bucky’s hands trembled around the dagger. “I can’t,” he whispered. “But I have to.”

“Bucky,” Steve reached up, running his hand along his arm as Bucky’s grip gradually went lax and tears welled up in his eyes. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay!” Bucky yelped as he dropped the dagger. “It’s not. You’re just...you’re just a blacksmith, and I was going to kill you for no reason. You were going to die for _no_ reason.”

Steve looked up at him with affection and--amusement--in his eyes.

“There’s something I need to tell you, Buck.”

-

When he was face-to-face with Sam, the girl who sold plums (who as it happened, was a fugitive that went by the alias ‘Black Widow,’ and he’d recognized her from some very old wanted posters), as well as the men who ran the local apothecary (“We can make the king’s men drop like flies, and they never see it coming,” the man named Tony had said proudly, before the other man--Bruce--had elbowed him in the ribs.), it dawned on him that maybe Rumlow’s information hadn’t been as terribly inaccurate as he’d assumed.

“You’re a rebel,” Bucky breathed.

“So to speak,” Steve waved a hand. 

“We prefer to think of ourselves as a bunch of people who politely disagree with the king’s methods,” Tony supplied, which made Sam snort. 

“Yeah like the coup and all the pillaging and murder,” Sam said. “We disagree.” 

Bucky blinked. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because, we’re wondering if you’d like to help,” Steve said, looking over at him with a hint of apprehension. “We need someone who would be able to create a diversion.”

“A diversion? For what?”

“We’re going to--” Steve began. 

“The less you know the better,” Talia cut Steve off. “Let’s just say that our _new_ king is a familiar face that will be better than our current one.” 

Steve made a face at her. 

“I can’t just--” Bucky began, his brain finally catching up with the moment. “They’d kill my family, they’d kill Alpine, and they’d probably throw me at the bottom of the ocean. Not to mention that Rumlow’s been after my sister, and the king would definitely _not_ have a problem marrying her off.” 

“Do you trust us?” Tony asked, and Bucky raised an eyebrow.

“Honestly, I’ve just met most of you.” Bucky took a deep breath and felt bile rise in his throat. “I can’t help. I’m sorry.” 

“Bucky,” Steve began, reaching out to touch his arm. “Please think about it.”

Bucky gave a curt nod and said nothing, because the last thing that he wanted to do was break a promise he made to Steve.

-

The next morning, Bucky woke up with a lump in his throat. He tried to ignore it as he set about saddling Alpine for their morning patrol. 

Alpine could tell that something was wrong, and immediately tried to buck him off. 

“No,” Bucky grunted, grabbing onto the reins tightly. “We have a job to do.”

So, they set off, flying high above the village until Bucky noticed that something was off.

Steve wasn’t at the market.

He jerked the reins hard and Alpine let out a puff of snow in annoyance. “Look, we have to check it out. Don’t give me that.” 

Once he’d landed, he kept Alpine close and led her to where he usually saw Steve - among the piles of scrap metal and just to the right of the grocery stall.

“Are you James?” 

Bucky nearly yelped in surprise when a man suddenly appeared out from under the piles of metal. “Bucky.”

“Abraham Erksine,” the man introduced himself. “I have a matter that you might be able to help me with, see...my apprentice hasn’t shown up for work. I went to his home, and he wasn’t there either. Do you think you could help?”

Given the knowing look that Erksine was giving him at the moment, Bucky had a feeling that they were being watched. “Sure, I can help you find him.”

“Wonderful,” Erksine smiled. 

Bucky glanced over his shoulder as he got back on Alpine and flew to the only place he knew where he could go in a crisis--Sam’s.

\--

“They took him. They took him, and it’s my fault,” Bucky scrubbed a hand over his face as he paced in Sam’s living room while Sam and Talia looked on. 

“It’s not your fault,” Talia offered.

“Yeah it probably is,” Bucky countered, before Sam chuckled. They were both entirely too calm in Bucky’s opinion. 

“Steve was doing this stuff for a lot longer than the two of you have known each other,” Sam added, “though, kind of funny you think anyone can make him do anything.”

Bucky let out a sigh and rubbed his hands over his face again, unable to stop himself from imagining Steve chained up in King Alexander’s dungeons. “I’ll do whatever you want. I just...they can’t have him. I won’t let it happen.”

“Okay,” Talia tilted her chin up as she assessed him. “Here’s the plan.”

-

“Are we really sure that this is going to work?” Bucky asked as he mounted Alpine. “Have you ever seen Hydra?”

He had once. He’d watched Hydra incinerate a lord’s entire army in seconds. 

“You think the king’s dragon can fight off six at once?”

“Six?” Bucky blinked. “We have five between the two of us.”

There was a whoosh as a dragon with purple markings touched down several feet away. A man that Bucky had seen a few times in passing--Barton, if memory served--hopped off. 

“Well, technically six. Reinforcements,” Sam nodded.

“How?”

“Don’t know, Talia met him somehow. She plays the whole thing close to her chest.”

“You talking about me?” Talia asked, a glint of mischief in her eye. Her red hair was tied back, and she wore a soldier’s uniform. 

“I’m going to ride with Clint,” she said to the two of them. “We’ll land near the barracks, and I should be able to get inside the castle from there.” 

“I’m coming with you,” Bucky said for the third time that hour. Talia wrinkled her nose in annoyance.

“No, you are definitely not. It’ll take you about three seconds to get caught, and the mission is bigger than either of us.”

“Oh, and you wouldn’t get caught?”

Talia grinned broadly. “Nope.”

-

Just about the stupidest thing that he could have done in his entire life was draw Hydra into a firefight on purpose.

And that was exactly what he was doing.

“C’mon Alpine,” he murmured, as he pulled her left. Hydra roared and they deftly dodged the flames, Alpine aiming blasts of ice at Hydra’s body. “We just have to distract him.” 

Sam’s dragons were doing their best to confuse Hydra further, flapping their wings close to his face. “We’ve got company.”

In the distance, he could see Crossbones flapping his great, black wings. “Yeah, this isn’t good.”

“Really?!” Sam deadpanned.

“Let’s go low. Crossbones hates water,” Bucky called over to Sam, but Sam shook his head. 

“Yeah and that would be a perfect time for Hydra to kill us!”

The streams of fire that streaked past them weren’t encouraging, to say the least.

It was at that point, however, that Hydra screeched loudly, became motionless, and plummeted to earth. 

Bonded dragons only died when their bonded did.

“Shit,” Sam said.

Rumlow looked incandescently angry.

Bucky just wondered if Steve was okay.

Bucky had imagined (and indeed, been on the receiving end) of plenty of Rumlow’s death threats, so he had expected a doozy from him. Instead, Crossbones was struggling to fly because another dragon had clamped down tightly on his tail.

“Sorry I’m late,” Barton called over to them, grinning broadly. “Got a bit held up.” 

Barton’s dragon, Hawkeye, yanked so sharply on Crossbones’s tail that he went a bit sideways and started to go down, down, until he was definitely crashing into the roof of the castle.

“Ow, that probably hurt,” Barton mused. 

Rumlow wasn’t moving on the roof, but he probably wasn’t dead. He was like a cockroach that way. Unkillable. Super annoying.

-

The three of them landed at the castle’s drawbridge. Steve and Talia were already by the entrance waiting for them. Steve, for his part, looked bruised and bloody and ashen, but he was _alive_ and Bucky embraced him the second he got close enough. 

“It’s done,” Steve murmured into his shoulder, leaning on him a bit more than normal. “It’s over. You can do what you want now. Go wherever you want to go. You’re free, Bucky.” 

“I’m just glad you’re safe,” Bucky murmured, pressing a kiss against his hair. 

“Are you going to leave the village?” Steve pulled back, looking up at him with wide eyes. 

Bucky chuckled and shook his head. “Can’t leave Alpine’s new best friend.” Then he leaned in and pressed a kiss against Steve’s lips that became deep in only a few seconds. 

“At least wait until we’re not all right here,” Sam sighed.

“I think it’s sweet,” Talia smiled, and elbowed Barton, who was smiling at her.

“Probably should get a room at the inn,” Barton snorted.

“We have a whole house, actually,” Bucky broke away from Steve to say. 

“I can’t believe I agreed to be part of a rebel group with any of you,” Sam scrubbed a hand over his face. 

“I’m pretty sure you co-founded it,” Steve piped up, before Bucky leaned in for another kiss and picked him up. 

“Let’s go home,” Bucky whispered in his ear, sending a shiver up Steve’s spine.

As they flew off, Sam, Talia, and Barton stared up at them.

“Remind me not to invite them for my solstice party this year,” Sam grumbled.


End file.
